1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the development of an optimal golf swing, and specifically relates to a device which trains a person to adopt an optimal stance and body rotation for practicing a golf swing.
2. Description of Related Art
Many devices have been designed for developing a correct golf swing. Many of those devices recognize that the difficulty of developing a perfect golf swing resides in the fact that few practitioners are able to maintain a study and consistent swing through a plane which defines the optimal swing plane. Some of those devices attempt to address that problem, and vary in their approach to maintaining a perfect stance and swing.
A perfect golf swing requires the practitioner to stand with the club shaft at an angle to his body so that the bottom surface of the head of the club is square with the ground. As the practitioner brings both arms and the club back, and then reverses the swing rotation so that the club head strikes the ball and the arms and club follow through, the head of the club must traverse the air in a circle, maintaining the head of the club on a consistent rotation though a circular plane. In an unperfected swing, the shaft of the club may wobble, or the arms and body may bend improperly so that the head of the club does not move in a consistent swing plane. As a result, the club head is not square with the ground as the club rotates downwardly to hit the ball. An imperfect swing may either result in the ball not being hit, or in producing a divot or in hitting the ball with insufficient or improper angle to prowl the ball upwardly on the proper trajectory.
Examples of swing practice devices and methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,400,933 to Heiser, issued Sep. 10, 1968 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,020 to Kane, et al., issued Dec. 4, 1984. In prior golf swing practice devices, including the aforementioned, the perfect swing plane may not be achieved because the device is either too flexible or too inflexible in maintaining the golf club or practice club in an arcuate plane. If the practice device is too flexible, the device will not provide sufficient rigidity to the swing rotation and the user's arms and/or club will wobble. If the device is too inflexible, the rigidity of the device will not allow the practitioner's arms or body to move in a natural way consistent with that individual's body structure and the person cannot rotate his hips and body in the necessary way to strike the ball.
In addition, most devices are of a standard construction and provide no means for adjusting the device to the requirements, particularly the height, of the user. That is, when a person of short stature uses the same, unadjustable device that a person of tall stature uses, the shorter person will be forced to adopt a stance improperly or uncomfortably distanced from the ball and will not achieve a rotation in the perfect swing plane. At the same time, a very tall person may be forced to stand too close to the ball due to unadjustable construction of the device and he too may not achieve rotation in the perfect swing plane. In addition to the foregoing problems with prior golf swing practice devices, few, if any, devices provide means for preventing laying-off of the club as a part of developing the perfect golf swing.
Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a golf swing training device which has sufficient adjustability, and hence flexibility to produce an optimal rotation of the user's arms and body while compensating for natural positioning of the practitioner's body through the swing cycle. It would be advantageous to provide a golf swing training device which is adjustable in height so that the device may be adjusted to accommodate the body height of the user. It would also be advantageous to provide a golf swing device which is structured to prevent laying-off of the club in further development of the optimal swing. It would also be advantageous to provide a golf swing device which is easily adapted to indoor use as well as outdoor use.